Rachel Franklin

British-born pianist Rachel Franklin is much in demand as performer, music lecturer, and teacher.  As a Pro Musicis International Award winner, she gave her solo debuts in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, and Jordan Hall, Boston.  The Boston Globe enthused about her “beautiful differentiations of color, touch and texture” and described a performance on her solo debut CD as “not inferior…to the recorded performances by Cortot and Rubinstein.”  She has also given European Pro Musicis solo debuts in Paris and Rome.  At the Wigmore Hall, London, where she has given several recitals, critics applauded her “stunning individuality,” “exquisite dynamic control,” and “amazing power and solidity of technique.” The Washington Post has praised her “cool-headed bravura and panache.”  Following a widely acclaimed recent chamber concert with members of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Sun wrote:  “Franklin demonstrated a flawless crystalline technique, and warmth and electricity in her playing.”

As a soloist and ensemble artist, Dr. Franklin has performed in the US, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Israel, and her chamber music recordings can be found on such labels as Sony and Sonoris.  Among her many awards are top prizes in the Florence International Chamber Music Competition and the Louise B. McMahon International Music Competition.  Her performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, WQXR and WNYC in New York, WJHU in Baltimore, and Radio Telefis Eireann in Ireland.  In addition to giving frequent spoken broadcasts on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, she has been the subject of a feature on the program.  She is also an accomplished jazz pianist who has performed with many jazz ensembles, and she is the founder and artistic director of the classical/jazz chamber ensemble SONOS.

Deeply committed to musical outreach and education, Dr. Franklin enjoys a busy career as a music lecturer, giving courses and pre-concert lectures for such organizations as the Library of Congress, the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Smithsonian Associate Program, and American University.  As an extension of this work, in 2007 she was awarded a prestigious grant by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County to develop her unique new website, Speaking of Music.  The site will be in the form of a video blog, featuring clips of Dr. Franklin discussing and demonstrating well-known pieces of concert music.

Dr. Franklin is a highly respected teacher and a faculty member at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  She is often invited to give master classes and to judge competitions for gifted young musicians throughout the region.

Her own teachers have included Louis Kentner, Irina Zaritskaya, and Ann Schein, with whom she earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Peabody Conservatory.  As a child, she studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and subsequently at the Royal College of Music, London, and the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University, where she won First Prize in the school’s piano competition and received highest honors upon graduation.

Learn more about Rachel Franklin at her website, www.rachelfranklin.com.

As of: October 25, 2008